


Finite

by charlotte123456789



Series: Harry Potter One-Shots [20]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Death, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heart Attacks, letting go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29378574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlotte123456789/pseuds/charlotte123456789
Summary: 12 hours ago, life had been normal.
Relationships: Minerva McGonagall & Poppy Pomfrey
Series: Harry Potter One-Shots [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157993
Kudos: 3





	Finite

The day had started just like every other day, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Minerva got up at half-past seven, got dressed, ate some breakfast in the Great Hall and then headed to her classroom to get everything set up for the first lesson of the day. She checked the time, 8:14 am; plenty of time to get things ready.

Nothing unusual.

It was a first-year class; they had just covered the basic laws of Transfiguration and all were eager to put their knowledge into practice. She had decided to go simple as always with the first practical class, turning needles into matchsticks. Nothing too daring or dangerous. Minimal power consumption and it still had the power to thrill a student when they first managed to do it.

She still remembered her first Transfiguration lesson. The wonder and awe of her magic being able to change one object into another. She had been hooked and knew immediately what she had wanted to study in life. O.W.L.S, N.E.W.T.S, a mastery, she had loved every minute of them. They had all been tough but it was something she truly enjoyed doing, the weaving of magic, the concentration required to transfigue an object using just your will.

Teaching the first-years’ was a secret pleasure of hers. Sure, all her colleagues complained at the recklessness and belief of first years that thought they knew it all. But seeing the true joy when a student first realizes what exactly their magic can do, is a magnificent sight to see.

The lesson was just as wonderful as she had hoped it would be even though she did not show it outwardly other than a small upwards quirk on her lips.

From that lesson onwards, the day just flew by, lesson after lesson. Homework assignment after homework assignment.

Which led her to now. She was sitting alone in her quiet abode. The large fire was warming the room with no trouble, chasing away the dark shadows of the corner.

To others it would be stifling, but to her it had been home for the past 50 years.

She sat on her chesterfield sofa, it was an expensive sofa but one of her few purchases to make this little area of the castle her home.

Sprawled in front of her were piles of students' homework, each sorted by year and house group. Some already marked, others waiting to be seen too.

She silently cast a _Tempus_. How much longer could she allow herself to mark essays before retiring to bed?

8:14 pm. She stared at the time in shock; where had all her time gone? She wondered why the time in front of her was wavering, had she cast it wrong?

She averted her eyes from the blurry time in front of her then realised that it wasn’t the time but _her_ . Her eyes unfocused as she tried to work out why _she_ couldn’t control the spell. Minerva felt anxiety creeping in as her breath quickened 

She couldn’t breathe.

Her chest was hurting.

Her _chest_ was hurting.

She grasped her wand tightly as she tried to send off a _Patronus_ as her hands became more shaky and she tried more desperately to breathe.

Poppy had sat in a vigil beside Minerva’s bedside all night.

Yesterday night at 8:14 pm, Minerva’s _Patronus_ had burst into her quarters. No words, just the cat frantically clawing at her to get out of bed and follow.

Poppy thought she was prepared for anything.

From dealing with Harry Potter all those years ago with no arm, a Basilisk roaming the castle and petrifying students, the final attack of the war, all a manner of random ailments from various students who hadn’t paid attention to the warnings in their lessons.

But when she had burst into the room not a minute later, she had not been prepared.

Her dear friend, all but collapsed half on the sofa, half on the floor, papers scattered around her.

Not breathing.

She had mustered up all her courage and recalled the lessons she had been taught all those years ago to identify what was happening.

A heart attack, and Minerva had gone into cardiac arrest.

She immediately started chest compressions.

She got her breathing again and immediately placed her into stasis.

The next hours were spent transferring her to the hospital wing, taking vitals, fire-calling St. Mungo’s for aid, trying to help.

Except, no matter how much they tried, her vitals remained the same no matter what.

The brain readings they had taken weren’t promising, no significant measurement could be taken. If the stasis charm was not on her then she would go into cardiac arrest once more.

Upon a detailed view of her magical core in hopes that it could help they could all clearly see that as soon as they removed the stasis charm that her Magical core would not be able to sustain itself, it would collapse in on itself.

They had waited hours, waiting to see if anything would change. It didn’t.

There was no hope.

The help from St. Mungos all left once she asked them to. All understood what would happen and the need for privacy.

Poppy had been sitting there for the past three hours trying to gather the strength to allow her friend peace. Watching as the clock ticked away the seconds, the minutes, the hours.

It was hard to imagine it was now only 8:14 am, only 12 short hours ago life was normal, it was hard for her to imagine all these events had taken place in such a small amount of time.

She reached over and patted Minerva’s hand.

“May you find your happiness in the next life.”

She cast a _finite_ at the stasis charm - she watched silently with tears rolling down her face as Minevra’s core collapsed and she died peacefully before cardiac arrest could begin again.

“Time of death, 8:14 am.”


End file.
